Breaking the cycle of urban poverty
"In rural areas, you can grow your own food, and probably you can access water, but the urban poor have fewer assets."
It's a story that is replayed so frequently, in so many different locations across the globe that it has become almost an archetypal image of life in the developing world.
Facing diminished economic prospects, rural people move to the city in search of new opportunities. But once there, they are at risk of becoming trapped in a downward cycle. Living in poverty — without access to proper sanitation, clean water or garbage collection — means the marginal lands they occupy may become unhealthy living environments. These worsening environmental conditions, in turn, damage residents' health and entrench the stigma and isolation of living in informal settlements, making it all the more difficult to escape from poverty.
